


After the Snap

by cheshire6845



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Marvel Universe, One Shot, SwanQueen is assumed, major character death cause of the snap, thanos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 06:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18148019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshire6845/pseuds/cheshire6845
Summary: In the Marvel Avengers universe, Thanos snapped his fingers and half of the Earth's living creatures disappeared.Storybrooke was not spared.





	After the Snap

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a quick one-shot story that I wanted to bang out while procrastinating on larger projects. 
> 
> If you are unfamiliar with the Marvel universe and The Snap, you can literally search on youtube for "the snap" and see the scene. Spoiler alert! 
> 
> Takes place a few years after the end of season 6. I wrote this as though major events all the way through season 6 happened, minus any sort of CS or OQ relationship. I don't bash other ships; they just didn't happen in this AU.

“So, tell me again why Mom isn’t here right now?” Henry asked, giving Emma a shit-eating grin from the other side of the booth at Granny’s.

“You know why,” Emma drawled, grabbing the ketchup for her fries. “Don’t give her too hard of a time, smart ass. You know she doesn’t do well with change.” She dunked a fry. “And her little prince getting ready for college is a big change.”

After swallowing a huge bite of burger, he said, “She’s at the stables again, isn’t she?”

Emma nodded. “Said she was going to go for a ride before we sit down tonight to talk about which college you’ve decided on.”

He rubbed a hand across his chest. “I just wish I could’ve been more truthful in my personal essay.”

“You were truthful,” Emma insisted. “You just had to make it sound a bit less…magic-y.” She watched as her teenage son grimaced. “What’s the matter, kid? You got heart burn?”

“I don’t feel-”

A clatter of plates filled with food crashed to the floor. Emma spun in her seat to see if Ruby had tripped but the brunette was nowhere in sight, just three plates of food scattered on the floor, the door to the kitchen still swinging. Emma frowned. “What the hell?”

Someone near the front of the diner gasped; she heard Leroy shout in alarm.

“Ma, I don’t feel so good,” Henry said quietly.

Emma spun back around in her seat. She saw fear in her son’s eyes. “Henry?”

“Ma…”

She reached for his outstretched hand on the table. It disintegrated beneath her fingers into nothing but ash.

“Henry!”

But he was gone.

“HENRY!”

Even the ash faded away as if he had never been there.

“HENRY!!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two hours later, Emma pulled slowly up the driveway of Zelena’s farmhouse. It looked quiet and her heart couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. Her heart, her gut, her head, her throat…everything hurt. She was waiting, hoping to slip into that numb place where she no longer felt anything, but so far, she was simply a ball of exposed nerves flinching as she rolled from place to place.

_Watching Henry disintegrate into nothing right in front of her eyes gutted her, leaving her staring stunned at the empty space he’d just occupied. She didn’t understand. Within seconds, the world intruded and she learned it hadn’t been just Henry. Half the occupants of the diner had disappeared in similar fashion. Doc, Sneezy, Ruby, Granny, Archie…Henry were all gone in the blink of an eye. Leroy looked at her with wide eyes and asked if they were cursed again._

_She didn’t know how to answer him._

_Cell phones started ringing, people were crying, someone ran out of the diner. Emma fumbled her phone out of her pants pocket, disconnected the incoming call being forwarded to her from the station, and tried to call Regina. She got her voicemail. She tried again but the call dropped. It dropped again. She heard Leroy swear, heard others shouting angrily, desperately; cell service was breaking down. She typed out a quick text message hoping it would go through._

_The door to the diner slammed open, startling everyone. Tink was wide-eyed when she spotted Emma and headed straight for her. “Emma, there’s a problem. Something is happening. I was walking with Blue, and she just…she disappeared.”_

_Emma stared at the shorter blonde, some part of her brain beginning to comprehend that whatever happened hadn’t been isolated to just the diner._

_“Emma,” Tink said more insistently, grabbing her arm, “Blue’s gone.”_

_“She’s not the only one, sister,” Leroy muttered from behind her._

_“What?” Tink asked, looking around and noticing everyone looked shell-shocked. She saw the extra cups of coffee on tables and the pile of dishes on the floor. “Oh.” She looked more closely at the table Emma was standing next to. She saw the book bag sitting there with no owner. “Emma, did Henry-?”_

_Emma recoiled from Tink’s touch and stepped back. She gave her head a shake. “I’ve got to find Regina,” she said, looking down at her phone again. “She’ll know…we need to figure…”_

_The door of the diner opened again, more people were streaming in, yelling about missing loved ones. Emma backed up a step. She hit call on her phone but nothing happened. A burning smell tickled her nose and she glanced towards the kitchen to see smoke beginning to curl through the window. “Shit.”_

_She pushed through the kitchen’s swinging door to see three different lunches left unattended, burning on the grill. No one was in the kitchen. She quickly turned everything off then ran a hand through her hair. Leroy and Tink had followed her to the kitchen._

_“Now what?” Leroy asked._

_The burnt burgers were a blessing, throwing Emma into sheriff mode. “We need to find out how far spread this is. Regina was at the stables, I’ll start there. Leroy, you and whatever dwarves are still around start at the other end of town and work towards the middle. Tink, stay here and start making a list of who’s missing as people come in. We’ll meet back at the station in three hours.”_

“Emma?”

She started slightly in the driver’s seat of the SUV. She tore her gaze away from the farmhouse and looked up to find her little brother’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. His nose was still runny and his cheeks flushed from where he’d been bawling his eyes out when she’d found him alone in his house, no sign of Snow or David. She cleared her throat, hoping her voice sounded normal. “Yeah?”

“Are you going to help, Robyn and Auntie Z?” he asked, his voice small and watery.

She nodded. “Uh huh.” She hadn’t seen any movement from the farmhouse so far. “I’m going to go find out if they’re home, okay?”

He clutched at the stuffed llama Regina had given him for his birthday. “What if they’re not home?”

Emma swallowed thickly. “Well, I’ll leave them a note, and they’ll know to come find us at the station when they get back.” She undid her seatbelt and turned towards him. “You want to stay in the car until I get back?”

His eyes widened and he frantically began undoing his seat belt himself. “No, don’t leave me.”

Emma had been afraid of that and she reached out a hand to his knee. “I’m not going anywhere, Neal. I promise.” From what she’d been able to decipher in between hiccupping sobs, Snow and Charming had disappeared from in front of Neal the same as Henry had to her. Then he’d been alone in the house for over an hour before she’d arrived. “Just hold on a second, I’m going to come around to your side of the car and get you out, okay.” She pointed towards the car’s windows. “You’ll be able to see me the whole time.”

He nodded shakily, either not noticing or not caring about the tears rolling down his face. Emma nodded back to him, hoping, but not sure, that she looked more confident than he did. She opened her door and hurried around the front of the sheriff’s SUV to his side. He had his belt off and leapt into her arms as soon as she opened the door. She rubbed soothingly up and down his back as he clung to her.

“It’s okay, buddy,” she said, “I got you.”

He nodded into her shoulder, burying his face against her neck. It appeared Snow and David would have yet another kid with abandonment issues. Emma waited until he calmed down before slowly lowering him to his feet. He was getting way too big for her to carry. She clasped his hand in her own as they faced the house together. It was too quiet and Emma had a sinking feeling no one was home. After a reassuring squeeze of fingers, they started towards the door together.

“Emma?”

“Yeah?”

“What about, Gina? Are we going to find her, too?”

Emma sucked in a shuddering breath at the innocent questions.

_Bits of gravel flew up as Emma ground the SUV to a stop outside the stables. She barely gave herself time to throw the vehicle into park before she was getting out and rushing towards Regina’s car. The classic black Benz sat where it always did when Regina came out to ride. It was the only car in the small lot besides the stable owner’s beat-up farm truck._

_“Regina!” Emma yelled, giving the inside of the car a cursory glance just to be sure._

_There was no answer to her yell. She tried her phone again but she barely had service at the stables on a good day. Leaving the car, she yelled again for Regina as she rounded the corner of the building and could see the stalls. Diablo’s stall was empty when she reached it. She knew Diablo was Regina’s favored horse to ride and more importantly she was his favored rider. The giant black stallion barely let anyone get near him but turned into a lovesick pony whenever Regina showed up._

_Hope bloomed in Emma’s chest that maybe, just maybe, Regina was still out riding. Maybe she didn’t answer her phone because she never answered her phone while she was riding. Maybe Regina was perfectly safe somewhere and just oblivious to the fact that half the town seemed to have disappeared. Emma finally felt like she could breathe. Regina was a survivor, always had been; she’d show up and make some snarky comment about not being able to leave for five whole minutes without the town needing her._

_Leaning one hand against the wall, Emma forced herself to breathe and take in her surroundings. No one was around and only three horses were watching her from their stalls. The five other stalls were unusually empty. There were no other cars in the lot and she hadn’t seen any horses in the ring. Had they disappeared, too? She made a mental note to add taking care of the horses to her increasingly growing list of things that would have to be managed._

_A horse neighed from outside the stalls and Emma’s heart soared. She hurried out, hoping to see Regina returning from a ride, but all she saw was Diablo pacing restlessly alongside the paddock. His reins dragged on the ground as he threw his head around, snorting and stomping at the ground. Emma dropped to her knees at the sight of his empty saddle._

Emma looked down at Neal’s hopeful blue eyes, eyes that were just like David’s. Kind understanding eyes that she wondered if she’d ever see again. “I’m sure Regina’s fine.” She swallowed past the raw burn in her throat. At least, no one else had been at the stables to hear her scream. “She’ll probably find us before we find her.”

“She likes to make an entrance,” Neal said, clearly repeating words he’d overheard from his parents.

“That’s right,” Emma managed to choke out, relieved he seemed satisfied with this explanation. “But let’s check on your Auntie Z because we know she’s a mess.”

He nodded knowingly and clutched the stuffed llama closer to his chest as they walked up the steps to the door. Emma listened for any sound within the old farmhouse then knocked. “Z! You home?” She pushed open the door, unsurprised to find it unlocked. “Zelena?” 

There was a loud thump and then footsteps from upstairs. Emma instinctively pushed Neal behind her as someone rushed down the stairs. Red hair and a tear-stained face swept into view seconds later.

“Robyn? Do you have Robyn with you?” Zelena’s bright, watery gaze swept over the two figures standing in her doorway. Not seeing her daughter, her expression hardened and she grabbed Emma by the front of her jacket and shook her. “Why haven’t you answered your phone? My daughter is missing! I’ve been trying to call you! I’ve looked everywhere! I put her down for her nap and now she’s just gone.”

Emma took hold of Zelena’s wrists before the distraught witch shook her again. There was hardly anything more disconcerting. She swallowed a few choice words when she felt Neal clutch hold of her leg, his small body pressing against her thigh. “Zelena! Stop. It’s not just Robyn that’s missing.”

“What? I don’t care about anyone else that’s missing,” she growled. “I just want to find my daughter.”

“Maybe she’s with Mom and Dad,” Neal offered quietly.

Zelena looked down, actually registering Neal’s presence. She frowned, glancing between him and Emma. “Why in Oz would my daughter be with the bird whisperer?” She didn’t wait for an answer, pulling herself free from Emma’s grasp. “Never mind. Where’s Regina? She isn’t answering her phone either. If the sheriff won’t do anything, then maybe my sister will help me find Robyn.”

“Listen to me!” Emma cut her off and wished Neal had stayed in the car. “Robyn isn’t the only one that’s missing.” She glared at Zelena, willing the woman to hear and understand her. “And maybe, just _maybe_ , Robyn is with the others.” She looked pointedly at Neal. “Where I’m sure they are all _safe_. _Together_.”

Zelena’s eyes narrowed then she looked down at the child, clinging to his much older sister. She looked back at Emma. “What others?”

“Snow and David.” Her voice cracked, but she forced herself to say her son’s name. “Henry.”

Zelena’s chin came up as a new pain twisted her expression. “Regina?”

Emma hesitated then nodded, unable to verbally confirm it. “And a lot of others.”

“What the bloody hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” Emma said, tiredly.

“You don’t _know_?” Zelena repeated, sneering. “My entire family goes missing and you don’t know what happened?”

“No.”

“Well, what kind of Savior are you? You’re useless.”

Emma snapped and grabbed hold of the witch, dragging her several steps away from her little brother. “I just watched my _son_ turn to ash in front of me,” she hissed into the witch’s face. She pointed a shaking finger at Neal. “He watched his parents _disappear_. And Regina…” she broke off, clenching her jaw together as she forced back tears. “The horse Regina was riding on returned to the stables without her.” She forced herself to let go of the witch. “Now I know you are hurting, Z. We _all_ are. But you have _not_ lost your entire family. I’m standing here, right now, in front of you. I came here, looking for you. Looking for Robyn. I promised you I would always look after her.”

Neither woman had noticed Neal moving closer to them, but when he took Zelena’s hand in his, they both looked down.

“Don’t worry, Auntie Z, my mom and dad will look after Robyn until we find them.”

A watery chuckle escaped the witch before she could stop it. “And who will look after your parents?”

“Z,” Emma sighed.

But Neal just shrugged. “Gina.”

Tears rolled down the witch’s face as she knelt down in front of the little boy. “That’s the first good news I’ve heard all day.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Emma pulled into the police station’s small parking lot a half hour later, she was surprised there wasn’t a mob waiting for them. She glanced at Zelena who shrugged and got out of the SUV. Neal’s hand quickly found Emma’s as soon as she let him out of the back, and they walked towards the station. One person stood just outside the station’s side door, smoking a cigarette.

“Lily,” Emma greeted grimly as they approached.

The young dragon exhaled away from them then jerked her chin towards the door. “The B team is inside waiting on you.”

Emma glanced at the door then back to her old friend. “Mal?”

“Gone.” Lily looked more closely at the unusual trio, noting who was missing. “Henry?”

Emma shook her head.

Lily flicked her cigarette away. “This is fuc- _messed_ up,” she said, correcting herself in front of little ears. “At least, it’s not just us this time.”

“What do you mean?” Zelena asked.

“You haven’t seen the news?” Lily asked, frowning. “It’s worldwide.”

“What?!”

Lily just opened the door and led them inside. Gathered around the station’s two televisions were a small gathering of fairy tale characters. Emma had expected Tink and Leroy. They were joined by Sleepy, Bashful, Belle, Mulan, Marco, Phillip, Smee, and Kathryn. Emma heard Zelena mutter beside her about being doomed and ignored her. When everyone saw them, Emma held up a hand to hopefully hold off questions as she looked at the news scrolling across the screen.

She watched as numbers of the missing for every country in the world continued to increase and reporters showed video of accidents and catastrophes taking place. Emma clutched Neal to her side, trying to hide his face from seeing the screens.

Belle sidled up to them; with a wan smile at Emma, she knelt down. “Neal, Gideon and Alexandra are in Emma’s office coloring. Do you want to join them?”

Emma looked in her office and saw Ella sitting at the desk with two small children. She looked down at her little brother and squeezed his shoulder. “You should totally go.” When he shook his head, Emma lowered herself down to his height. “I’m not going anywhere and the windows in my office will be open. You’ll be able to see me the whole time, okay. Besides,” she tried for a smile, “you’ll just be bored out here with all the big people talk.”

Neal gave her the same expression he usually reserved for broccoli and let go of her leg. Belle took his hand and walked him over to the office. Emma noticed the Kleenex the librarian had clutched in her other hand. “Guess Rumple disappeared?”

Tink nodded, straightening a stack of papers in front of her. “About half the town as far as we can tell. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Male, female, age, magic, non-magic.” She waved at the television. “For once, we’re just like the rest of the world.”

“Have they said what happened?”

“They haven’t said for certain,” Kathryn said, “but there was some sort of unknown energy signature over Wakanda. They’re speculating that whatever this was started there.”

“Magical?” Zelena asked.

“Does it matter?” Leroy snarled before taking a long drink off his flask.

Zelena sneered at him ready to retort when Emma stepped between them, snagging the flask out of the dwarf’s hand.

“Hey!”

She was sorely tempted to upend the whole thing herself but drinking herself stupid would have to wait. “I need you sober, Leroy,” she said, surprising the dwarf. She picked up the remote and muted the TV. “I need all of you.”

“It’s why we’re here,” Phillip said earnestly.

Marco nodded beside him. “We’ve all lost someone today. Some of us more than one.”

Emma nodded then huffed with a dark humor. “Well, unlike the rest of the world, we’re used to crazy shit like this happening. We’ve got a lot to cover so let’s get started.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Five hours later, Emma slumped at her desk and tipped the bottle of Jack over her glass, sloshing it slightly as she poured the drink. Zelena reached across the desk, sliding her glass closer, expecting a refill as well. They were the only ones left in the station except for Neal who was asleep on the fold out cot usually reserved for the night shift.

“What an absolute shit show,” Zelena said, holding up her glass in salute to the silent tv still showing the horrible news.

Emma drank in silent agreement, her gaze drifting over the make-shift bulletin board Tink had hung up. White butcher paper spanned one wall listing points-of-contact for all the impromptu teams they had propping up Storybrooke. Belle and Ella were running a pseudo-orphanage. Leroy, the dwarves, and Marco had gone house to house, turning off appliances, water, and checking for pets. Phillip was working on taking care of the stables and the local animal shelter. Kathryn and Mulan were returning in the morning to run city hall and the police station. Smee was acting as harbor master, tying up boats and securing the area in general. Tink and the remaining fairies had reported to the hospital to help out. Lily had agreed to help patrol overnight and make sure no one drowned their sorrows too much at the Rabbit Hole. Which really just left…

“How exactly are you helping?” Emma asked, looking over her desk at Zelena.

“I’m opening Granny’s tomorrow morning so everyone can get their coffee and bacon.”

Emma stared, open mouthed, waiting for the punchline. When the witch continued to simply sip her drink, she blurted, “What?!” She set her glass down before she dropped it. “Since when do you know how to cook?”

Zelena snorted. “I’m not cooking. They found the night shift cook for that. I’m simply there to play Granny’s role. Act surly and take people’s money.” When Emma continued to stare at her in disbelief, she glared back. “You’re the one that said we needed normalcy.”

“You anywhere near a kitchen is not normal.”

“Do you want your bear claw and caffeine in the morning or not?”

Emma closed her mouth then topped off Zelena’s drink. She sat back and they watched the silent news flash across the screens. She’d offered to take Zelena home but the witch had deferred, stating she’d stay at the station with Emma in case she was needed. Emma suspected Z didn’t want to go home and face an empty house; Emma knew she sure as hell didn’t want to return to the mansion and its empty rooms devoid of Henry and Regina. She could stay at her parents’ house, let Neal stay in the comfort of his own room and surroundings. No one would call her on it. Maybe she’d ask Zelena if she wanted to stay with them as well.

They both heard the front door of the station open; Zelena knocked back the last of her drink and Emma stored away the bottle in her lower desk drawer. After all, it’s technically why they had stayed, to help anyone that came by.

“Emma?”

Emma jumped out of her seat so fast she hit her knee on the bottom of her desk; she swore and stumbled, catching herself from falling only by grabbing the edge of her office door. She’d just managed to straighten when Regina walked in from the hallway.

She was still wearing her riding clothes. They were muddy, her hair was a mess, and a dark stain marked her collar on the right side. Emma thought she was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. “Regina.”

The brunette tilted her head at the sight of Emma looking at her as those she’d seen a ghost, even more disturbing was her sister, standing a head taller than the blonde, tears gathering in her eyes as she stared. “What the hell-?”

She didn’t manage to get any further before Emma was wrapped around her in a hug, knocking her off balance with the ferocious quality of it. Regina felt Emma shuddering against her, arms locking so tight around her it was hard to breathe. “Emma, what-?”

Then Zelena was hugging her from the side, her longer arms encompassing both the brunette and the blonde. Too stunned to speak, Regina simply stood, eventually working one arm free to wind around her sister while her other laid across Emma’s shoulders. She felt wetness on her neck and knew Emma was crying. Her own head was pounding but clearly whatever pain she was in was nothing compared to the blonde’s.

Zelena was the first to collect herself, pulling herself back, wiping quickly under her eyes before narrowing them at Regina. “Where the hell have you been? Did you come back? Is that blood on your shirt?”

“Blood?” Emma quickly pulled back so she could see for herself. “Are you hurt?” she asked through several sniffs. Her shaking hands quickly traced upwards, gently turning Regina’s head to see flaking blood along the brunette’s neck, staining her collar. The blood disappeared in the dark brown hair but a section of it right behind her ear was matted together. “Oh my God, what happened?”

Regina quickly found herself being guided towards a chair. She hissed as tentative fingers probed her head behind her ear. She grabbed Emma’s hands and pulled them down. “I’m all right.”

“Like hell you are!” Zelena snapped, temper coloring her relief. “You scared us half to death.”

Regina frowned at her sister before sighing in relief as Emma’s healing magic flowed into her. The throbbing in her head finally stopped for the first time in hours and the pain in her side ebbed away, but she felt the sorrow that tinged Emma’s magic. It was overwhelming, bleeding between grief and love and guilt. She squeezed Emma’s hands, relieved when watery green eyes met hers. “Hey, what happened?”

“We thought you were dead,” Emma admitted in a whisper. Unbeknownst to Regina, it was the first time that day that the blonde had allowed herself to admit that she believed the people who had disappeared were dead and not just missing.

“Dead?!” Regina repeated. That, at least, explained why no one had been at the stables waiting for her return. Why no one had been out looking for her when she’d failed to come back at a decent time. “Why would you think that?”

“No!” Zelena cut over Emma. “You first. Where were you? Did you come back from somewhere? Was Rob…was _anyone_ else with you?”

Regina carefully looked the two women over. They were both drawn and pale with blood shot eyes and whiskey on their breath. She wanted answers but clearly, they had questions, too. “I took Diablo out for a ride. We were walking along the upper river bank. I was dismounting to lead him down to the water when something spooked him. He reared up, throwing me off. I bounced off a boulder before rolling down to the edge of the water. When I woke up, it was hours later, dark, and I was by myself.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a smashed phone. “My head was throbbing; I couldn’t risk magic so I walked back to the stables, then I drove here.” 

Emma rushed forwards and hugged her again, awkwardly until Regina pushed to her feet, straightening and bringing the blonde up with her. She watched her sister over Emma’s shoulder. “What happened here?”

Sounding more defeated and resigned then Regina could ever remember, Zelena waved a hand at the muted tv. “A lot.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Half an hour later, all three of them sat around the desk, drinks clutched in hand. Zelena had retreated back into Emma’s office, searching for the bottle, and leaving Emma to explain. When Regina had the brunt of it, minus two very specific names she’d been waiting to hear, she asked. Emma admitted quietly that Henry and Robyn were both gone. Regina hadn’t immediately raged or broken down; she’d simply followed her sister into the office, poured a drink, and knocked it back. Then when the tears had started, she embraced her sister and together they cried for their children.

“You said you thought I was dead,” Regina said, breaking the silence. Her voice rough with whiskey and tears.

Emma looked at her, gauged her, then nodded.

“So, that means, you think that all of the missing are dead.”

The blonde stared into her glass. She nodded again.

Zelena’s chair scraped against the floor as she stood up. She stared blankly out the window, her back to the desk and the other two women. Missing. That’s how Emma had referred to the people that had disappeared. All day. She’d called them _missing_. Robyn was missing. Henry was missing. She’d told Neal they were going to find his parents. They would find them because they were missing – not dead. But now…now she admitted the truth. Mad at herself for believing the story told to a child, told to the masses, Zelena shook her head. “Fuck you, Savior.”

Emma raised her head, blood shot eyes staring at Zelena’s back. “What?”

“You heard me,” Zelena said, turning around to face her. “You’re just like your mother. Going around spouting out hope-”

“I _never_ said they were alive!” Emma shouted, her chair flying backwards as she stood. “Quite frankly, I liked Leroy’s idea. I wanted to drink myself into oblivion, but I couldn’t because, like always, everyone was looking to me. So yeah, I kept moving, I kept pushing, I gave people shit to do so they could keep moving. But, tomorrow morning, I have no idea what I’m supposed to tell that little boy in the other room.”

“That’s enough,” Regina said calmly, relieved that she’d thrown up a quick silencing spell around Neal’s cot. “No one is dead,” when Emma glared at her, she continued, “but if they are, they’re not going to stay that way. We’ve gone to hell before, we can do it again.”

Emma shook her head, her blonde hair falling forwards as she dropped her head. “You didn’t see what I saw. Neither of you.” She looked between them. “Henry _disintegrated_ in front of me. He turned to ash and even that disappeared. This isn’t something you come back from.”

Regina leaned forward and placed her hand over Emma’s on the table. “Then we go back in time.”

Zelena moved closer. “What?”

“We’ve done it before.”

“ _I’ve_ done it before,” Zelena argued. “When I had magic, something I am sorely lacking at the moment.”

“Listen,” Regina snapped, her voice turning into that of a queen. “I don’t give hope speeches. I’m _telling_ you, _both_ of you, that we are going to fix this.” She gestured towards the tv. “Those people out there, they might get over this, they might move on, but not us. One way or another, we will get our family back.”

Emma and Zelena looked at each other over the table. Zelena nodded. “Agreed.”

Emma nodded. “Whatever it takes.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The final lines of the story come from the recent trailers for Avengers: Endgame.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!


End file.
